Sophia Shek
Production
Biography
Sophia Shek loves a good script and exciting challenges. Their passion for storytelling and travelling has taken the Scottish-HKer producer around the world, from Australia to North America, working on a dynamic range of commercial and independent projects. During their tenure in Hong Kong, Sophia has found success with Hollywood productions, acting as Assistant Director to Oliver Stone on Snowden (2015), Michael Bay on Transformers IV: Age of Extinction (2014), and Alan Taylor on Thor: The Dark World (2013). Their diverse portfolio also includes commercials with multi-national corporations (Cathay Pacific, Adidas, Microsoft, Venetian Macau) and music videos (Super Junior, Reik.) Tight budgets have not deterred Sophia from venturing into independent films and documentaries that explore queer and diaspora identities in recent years. Feature films I Miss You When I See You (2018), and their sophomore collaboration with Taiwanese-American director Emily Ting Go Back to China (2019) have both been featured in multiple film festivals (SXSW, Seattle International Film Festival, Melbourne Queer Film Festival). Sophia lends their expertise of festival curation and production to local initiatives at the intersection of culture and queerness. The long-time curator of Hong Kong Lesbian and Gay Film Festival has also been involved with Women's Festival Hong Kong. Sophia has recently been named one of the directors of Planet Ally, a queer and non-binary led organization, after being involved in their flagship events Human Dignity Festival and Miles of Love in the past three years. In their free time, Sophia enjoys playing tennis, drinking whisky (spelt without an "e") and watching sci-fi TV shows. Sophia flies between Hong Kong and UK actively working on projects.
Known For

As humanity picks up the pieces after the battle of Chicago, a shadowy group reveals itself in an attempt to control the direction of history…while an ancient, powerful new menace sets Earth in its crosshairs. With help from Cade Yeager, Optimus Prime and the Autobots rise to meet their most fearsome challenge yet.
Transformers: Age of Extinction

Ruby, a Chinese American toy designer from LA, visits Hong Kong for the first time on business. Finding herself stranded, she meets Josh, an American expat who shows her the city.
Already Tomorrow in Hong Kong

When party girl Sasha Li blows through most of her trust fund, she is cut off by her father and forced to go back to China and work for the family toy business.
Go Back to China

Jamie re-encounters his old school friend, Kevin, who has been suffering from depression, and must make a choice between following his heart or society.
I Miss You When I See You

China has been actively interfering in the workings of the Hollywood industry for nearly two decades, so that movies are no longer made on subjects its totalitarian government does not like — free Tibet or Taiwanese independence — and prominent stars who oppose such tyranny are dispensed with: a behind-the-scenes look at how the dream machine has been totally compromised by the abusive power of a ruthless dictatorship.
Hollywood Under Chinese Influence

Sharon is a fast-rising PR executive from Singapore, searching for love in Hong Kong, who may have found her dream guy, but as she chases after him online and in person, Sharon quickly finds out the dangers of stalking a secret crush.
Love Stalk

Based on true events, a Hong Kong teenage girl’s first day out of juvenile detention center takes an unexpected turn.
Lil' Tiger

For every emigration wave, there is always a wave of return to Hong Kong. Leaving and returning seem to be the beginning of the journey for rootless Hong Kongers. Perhaps Hong Kongers are destined to wander in a cycle of uncertainty. Emily and her fiancé Vincent immigrate to the UK with hopes of starting a new life. They will take over the home of Megan, an old classmate who has lived there for several years and decided to return to Hong Kong. The three friends roam around London and will bid farewell to each other after spending the day together. It is goodbye but it is also the start of a new journey. The director uses this film to express her own feelings after going through the same journey. She carefully inserts daily life details to show the cultural differences and reflects on the faint sadness of exchanging fates.
Homecoming and Going

Singer-songwriter Vincy explores the meaning of those words closest to their being: music, love, queerness, and Asian identity.
Vincy

An experimental journey through Seoul. “As a journey through the urban sea of Seoul, Sous L'eau is a visual experimentation describing mixed feelings of losing ground, control beyond any understanding in a radically new world. He's French, she's Korean. Seen through his foreigner's eyes, the city is an abstract ink painting. People become a flow, river at night turns into geometric glitters. The colors of the fish market bleed on the screen. Follow this encounter with a unique character in a short Korean interview. Free from a tight narrative frame and form, it is a raw expression of a traveler's losing balance. It sits at the frontier between wet kaleidoscopic landscapes and distinguishable shapes and patterns.”